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[Roy B Stanton]

  I'm buying a new live sound rig.Active VS passive What's the real deal.Any pro's and cons would be helpful

[Bennett Prescott]

I'm not sure being "active" (read: with power amplifiers and processing integrated into the loudspeaker) or "passive" is a valid attribute... it's like saying "I need to drive at 60 miles per hour, should I use gas or diesel?".

Here's what I suggest: Find the speakers that will work best for your situation. If they are active, great. If they are passive, great. The way power gets to the driver is likely irrelevent to your situation, unless you're talking about a large touring rig in which case such things can be a large part of the buying decision.

[Dave Dermont]

The first thing we need to know is if by "active" do you mean using multiple external amplifiers and an active crossover or if you mean speakers with built-in amplifiers.

[Roy B Stanton]

  Sorry guys Im talking about powered and unpowered( with power amps etc) speakers.How well do the active speakers preform and the pro's and cons of them. I know about power amps and all that.I dont know about the active speaker realm for live sound for any room I may play.

[Tony "T" Tissot]

As stated by the others earlier, the intended use dictates what is best - and pasive vs. active probably isn't in the equation.

I use 4-way (occasionally 5-way) active mains that are comprised of 3 cabinets (4 in the 5-way configuration) for my primary rig.

Monitors are bi-amped - but through pre-connecterized amp racks. X-over settings are saved and marked.

For me it means really fast setup. I just roll in a 660lb dolly and hope I can find a helper to lift the pieces into place.

I'll admit that it is not really a whole lot faster than passive speakers coupled with a good, well-thought-out, connectorized amp rack.

- Of course if you loose an amp in an active system, you are "out of luck." I never have - fortunatly.

- I do not need to do any Xover stuff (although again - a well thought out passive system would be pre-configured prior to load-in anyway).

[Roy B Stanton]

 thanks Tony.Well at least if you lose a active speaker you have one left,but if you lose a power amp theirs nothing left.The whole active thing is new to me so Im checken everything out.Thanks; anyone else? Also,for small to medium gigs,any preferance's to speakers,best bang for the buck.example one high pack(15 and 2 inch driver) and one sub(18) on each side

[Tony "T" Tissot]

Yeah -

This seems to be the order:

1. Most typical basic setup is the single 2-way speaker on each side on stands.
(Stands to keep the horns above the audience's ears)

2.Then adding sub-woofer component, gets added to each side. Includes adding a crossover - more amplifiers (subs need a more powerful amp). Almost always mono on the subs. Many have pole holders that let you put the 2-way mains above them.

3. From there - many permutations exist. Bi-amping the tops, Ganging subs together, 4-way, 5-way systems.... as many choices as you could ever desire.

For advice on speakers - you'll get lots of opinions.

Be very careful not to just get advice from the typical "big-box" musical instrument stores. Not that they are all bad - but I've seen some very bone-headed junk that comes out of them.

I don't endorse any of the following - just because I don't use them - but:

The Yamaha on the low end seem to get some respect here at an advantageous price point.
Yorkville seems to give very good service to a lot of folks in the lounge.
The JBL higher-end music store stuff (SRX/MRX) also gets some kudos.

The biggest problem I hear from the MI store stuff is that while it may seem loud - it just lacks low-end puch, sparkle and mid-range clarity. (Big, dumb, loud, sounds like mush)

I've had good results with EV, QSC amps, ISP Technologies active speakers, EAW and JBL monitors. (I do outdoor festivals to about 2,000 people (rock, blues etc) and indoor shows to about 800 people for hardcore, pop, punk, big band, bluegrass and rockabilly)

As for advice - find someone who does your same musical style and listen to some live gigs for advice - and then compare what you hear to the sound you get at a big professional concert.

[Roy B Stanton]

  Thanks Tony (life starts after you get past yourself in my opp.)I cant find enough people using active speakers;maybe thats the answer. Thanks for the info.

[Scott Bower]

Roy,
I think one of the reasons more people aren't active is it involves a major change in your system. While most guys will upgrade speakers, then amps and so on, to go completely active requires buying at least 4 powered boxes at once.In my case this worked well since I was able to sell 4 speakers, two amps and a crossover to offset the cost.
Many are scared about blowing a power amp or speaker and not being able to patch around it.The thing to remember is it's less likely you will have these problems since limiting and other proccesing are built in and the systems are engineered to work together.
I have Mackie SA1521 over SWA1501 and they work well for crowds up to 800.Setup is a breeze with all XLR cables and crossovers are built in.I got a deal from a friend on these but if I was starting from scratch I would have also looked at Yorkville or  the new QSC stuff.

[Tony "T" Tissot]

Roy;

I agree with Scott's assessment. As he said, it's the decision to make the major change that probably stops a lot of folks from going active.

I use active mains for 80% of what I do. And I highly recommend the approach. (I use the ISP technologies Tri power reference system, which is 4-way, or 5-way (that means 4 amp or 5 amp channels per side) depending on configuration. The picture is the 4-way configuration)

In my case I had enough use for "leftover" speakers and amps in my "B" system - and for use in bi-amped monitor mixes. Otherwise, I would have had to sell them.